Abstract:
Following an ethnobotanical survey for hepatoprotective remedies, four Libyan medicinal plants from
family Lamiaceae; Ajuga iva (L.) Schreber, Marrubium vulgare L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Thymus
capitatus Hoff. et Link growing widely in Beida, Libya, were selected for our study. The chemical
composition of essential oils hydrodistilled from the dried aerial parts, were analyzed by gas
chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major constituents of the essential oils of A. iva and
R. officinalis were carvacrol (35.07%) and 1,8-cineol (35.21%), respectively, thymol was the major
constituent of the essential oil of M. vulgare (20.11%) and T. capitatus (90.15%). The oil of M. vulgare had
the most powerful antioxidant activity by restoring glutathione levels in the blood of alloxan-induced
diabetic rats. The rats treated with the essential oils of M. vulgare, R. officinalis and T. capitatus (50
mg/kg) showed a significant decrease in liver enzymes which were elevated by CCl4 (p ˂ 0.01). The
essential oil of M. vulgare had the most potent hepatoprotective activity.
